


The Tower

by viciousmollymaukery



Series: Critical Tarot [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Essek dies but he gets better, Fantasy Violence, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, also I jumped on the 'Scourger comes to kill Essek' hype train I guess, shadowgast was supposed to be subtle but im a disaster, what's sexier than wizards NOTHING
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 08:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23468155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viciousmollymaukery/pseuds/viciousmollymaukery
Summary: "In Tarot, the Tower is commonly interpreted as meaning danger, crisis, destruction, and liberation. It is associated with sudden unforeseen change. The image of the Tower card is powerful, depicting a solid tower being struck by lightning, and fire crawling out from the small windows at its top."The Cerberus Assembly send a Scourger to eliminate Essek, but the Mighty Nein have other plans for their friend.
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, The Mighty Nein & Essek Thelyss
Series: Critical Tarot [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147757
Comments: 33
Kudos: 424





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> A few quick things, before you dive in:
> 
> 1.) I take some minor liberties with 5th Edition's mechanics for the sake of drama, but I hope you all (and the Dice Gods) can forgive me. For example, technically, there's nothing that says Sending can break a spell's concentration, but Jester is Jester. And, while I do have a copy of EGtW, I wasn't sure which spell (if any) from it Essek used against the Scourger in the dungeon, so I danced around the specifics of that a bit. As another note, the violence isn't much worse than anything described on the show, but still a general warning for gore, blood, and that sort of thing.
> 
> 2.) My knowledge of, and experience with, Tarot, is rather minimal, and I apologize if my interpretation is inaccurate or if my implementation doesn't quite ring true to those who actually understand it. My first encounter with it was getting a reading done when I was a kid at my dad's work party, and I think I started crying because I got the Death card. The second was a few years later when my sister was really into paganism and that sort of thing, and she tried to use the cards to put a curse on me, and when I told her that wasn't really how they worked, she threw them at my face. 
> 
> 3.) This is one of the only fics I have ever finished, and the first I have ever published. My fiction writing skills are rusty, and I know that, so please be gentle. I did write this for the Essek Week event, and it was supposed to be a one-shot but then I lost control. The Mighty Nein don't do the things I want or expect them to do.
> 
> Enjoy!

The days since Essek and the Mighty Nein had parted ways after the peace talks seemed to pull and stretch, each a bit longer and lonelier than the last. He had heard Jester refer to this meeting they were going to, ‘TravelerCon’, a few times now, and while he regarded most religion with more than a little disdain, he knew that the Traveler itself it didn’t seem... particularly malicious, or likely to bring the group to harm. Essek also knew, of course, that they were more than capable of taking care of themselves either way, as they’d proven time and time again.

So Essek waited. He handled his own loose ends from his dealings with the Assembly quietly and with the utmost discretion. He attended the meetings of the Bright Queen’s court, listening to plans from the priests of the Luxon as to when they should next cast away the darkness that shielded Rosohna and give worship to the Light. He continued his own research, markedly alone in his tower without the company of a certain red-haired human to help him this time, as best he could, still waiting with bated breath for word of his promised results at long last.

In a way, it had all worked out rather well. The war was over, the missing— _no, stolen,_ he reminded himself. _Take responsibility_ —Beacons were returned and the Bright Queen was none the wiser that another had been found. So long as the Martinet kept his promise and the Assembly shared its research, this could all turn out in his favor.

Except…

Except, the unexpected shock at first seeing the Mighty Nein aboard the Wind of Eons and the realization of how much danger they were now in still echoed in his skull. The guilt that had slowly been growing over these few months until it was so heavy he was sure his levitation spell would fail him still dragged him down. The sharp pain at seeing Beau’s glare and Veth’s disappointment still hurt more than any knife he thought might meet his throat if his treachery had been discovered.

He heard Caleb’s words again, as striking and as full of the possibility for something better as the first time. _These people changed me._ And they’d already done the same for him. And so quickly too, in just a few short months. He hadn’t wanted it, hadn’t expected it, and it had happened all the same. He had been elevated, in some ways literally, for most of his life. He’d accomplished so much and much more was expected of him. Most of even his Den considered him untouchable, not daring to get close to him. The rest demanded he wrangle and defeat the flaws they still saw in him. His whole life, perfection had been the only thing he was allowed. He’d never realized how lonely a pedestal could be until now. How truly crushed he felt under those expectations that were supposed to lift him up. How he did, truly, at least want to want to be good.

It was a welcome reprieve from his dark pondering when Jester’s voice cut through it out of the blue. _“Hey Essek, we’re back in Rosohna. TravelerCon was sooooooo much fun, we missed you sooooooo much. Can we come by—your—house—to—see—you?”_

Essek waited a moment in case she decided to continue her message with another spell, but got nothing. “Jester,” he sighed, “it’s good to hear from you. I’m glad you are all home. Feel free to come by. I know we have… much to discuss.”

A few minutes passed, and he was in the process of preparing a more accommodating seating arrangement in the downstairs of his tower when her voice cut through again. _“Okay, we have to drop things off at the Xhorhaus but we’ll be there soon. I brought you a present! I HAVE TO TELL YOU—”_

Again he paused, waiting to see if she continued the message, but even with Fjord keeping track of how many words she used there was a chance she didn’t notice the spell had cut her off. “Very well,” he replied, “I look forward to seeing all of you once more. And thank you for the gift, whatever it is,” he added.

Essek waited a few more moments, but heard nothing further. He exhaled slowly and continued preparing, lost in thought for the next several minutes as his nerves started eating away at him despite his genuine eagerness to see them. It was looking more and more like his fate would be decided today.

In hindsight, it was his own inattention that killed him as much as the Scourger did.

He was in the middle of laying out a pastry tray—he’d gone to a new bakery this time, after much searching for one that made cupcakes to Jester’s liking—when he felt a distinct shiver run up his spine, a deep seated sense he couldn’t ignore that something was wrong. Before he could turn around, a white hot pain like he’d never felt before laced through the side of his chest, blood instantly soaking through his cloak.

Essek gasped, already choking on his own blood, and felt a hand grip his shoulder from behind. “The Assembly wants you to know,” the voice hissed into his ear, “they’re very curious about consecution, and they do hope to see you again soon.” With a final snarl, they twisted the dagger further into his chest and ripped it out, sending a spray of blood over the table.

For a split second, perhaps due to the rapid blood loss, all Essek could think was how upset Jester would be that her cupcakes were ruined. Then, before the Scourger— _it had to be one, but it couldn’t be, and how could Caleb, his Caleb, have almost been one of them?_ —could sink the knife in a second time, he Misty Stepped as far away as he could, landing halfway up his stairs. He started to stagger the rest of the way, preparing to Teleport and get away to _somewhere, anywhere but here, far away where his friends wouldn’t be in danger_ —and the spell blinked out as the Scourger managed to Counterspell it with but a snap of their fingers.

Biting back a curse— _the Umavi had always taught him to be polite_ —and pressing a hand to the throbbing wound in his chest— _they’d most definitely punctured his heart, it didn’t usually sound like that_ —he went as fast as he could up the stairs. Outside wasn’t an option— _if the Aurora Watch saw him, how would he explain this?_ —and using Teleport had already failed once— _if it failed again, he’d have one fewer high level spell to defend himself_ —so his only option was to go up. He knew this tower and its secrets inside and out, which gave him an advantage.

Essek pushed through the doors to the upper level of the tower. All of the candles instantly lit, the enchantment holding true and shedding some light on what was shaping up to be his darkest hour. The Scourger was hot on his heels, moving with almost unnatural speed and grinning as they entered. They took in the room with a cursory glance and, with a casual kick, knocked over some of the candles into the bookshelves, which were quickly overtaken by flame that started slowly spreading around the room. At least he’d already picked out the books he thought Caleb would like and set them aside.

He coughed, blood spattering his lips and trickling down his chin, the coppery taste coating his mouth. Another secondary stab of pain laced through his chest, and for far too long of a moment he could only see stars. _Poison._

Essek watched the Scourger twirling the blood-and-viscera coated knife between their fingers, the same twisted grin plastered on their face. The two of them slowly circled each other. The smoke was clouding the room now, creating a thin haze between the two of them, the heat starting to get uncomfortable and oppressive.

He thought back to the dungeon, with Caleb and the rest of the Mighty Nein and the other Scourger woman. He muttered under his breath and began casting the same spell he’d used then— _a fitting end for you_ —and again he saw this Scourger reach forth to Counterspell it, and this time he used his own Counterspell to make theirs vanish between their fingers.

The Scourger, their eyes widening, was lifted up in the air, gripping their throat and kicking like mad, clearing the smoke around them. It was all Essek could do to hold them suspended there as he coughed again, feeling the poison pulse once more through his veins and making the room spin. The smoke was surrounding the two of them and had to be leaking downstairs by now, the flames starting to brush against the edge of his cloak, the sheer heat burning his mantle against his skin even through the fabric. Then, slowly, he brought his fingers inwards into a fist and began to crush them—

And then, then of all moments, Jester’s voice blared through his mind and broke through his concentration.

_“Hey Essek, we’re outside. Are you home? The gate was weirdly unlocked so Caleb sent Frumpkin in but he—hasn’t—seen—you—yet. Everything good?”_

The spell shattered and the Scourger fell to the ground, but before Essek could respond to Jester to tell her that _no, everything is not good and you all need to run as fast as you can far away from here before it is too late_ , a Lightning Bolt shot from the Scourger’s fingers and hit him square in the chest. Essek staggered, gasping, and fell, just barely catching a glimpse of a pair of cat’s eyes staring at him through the smoke and flames before everything went black.


	2. Chapter Two

“Okay, okay, okay, I’m going to send a message to Essek,” Jester said as the Mighty Nein walked out of the room in the Lucid Bastion with the teleportation circle. She cleared her throat as Fjord held up his fingers to help her keep count, knowing she had to choose her words oh-so-carefully. “Hey Essek, we’re back in Rosohna. TravelerCon was sooooooo much fun, we missed you sooooooo much. Can we come by—” Fjord held up five fingers and wiggled them in the air. “Your—house—to—see—you?” Jester finished.

She tapped her fingers together lightly and bit her bottom lip as the Mighty Nein made their way through the Lucid Bastion and out into the Firmaments of Rosohna, waiting for his reply. She _really_ hoped he would reply to her, and that he hadn’t run off and gone full traitor-y or something like that. She knew Caleb would be _so_ disappointed if that happened, and she really wanted him to stay around as well. She was hoping to teach him how to bake cupcakes sometime later this week, now that things had slowed down a little for them.

A few moments later, just as they were stepping into the Firmaments, she got a reply. " _Jester,_ _i_ _t’_ _s_ _good to hear from you. I’m glad you are all home. Feel free to come by. I know we have… much to discuss."_

She gasped sharply. “Oh, okay, he said yes, guys, we can come over!”

“Well, not right _now_ ,” Veth protested.

Jester frowned. “Why not, I just asked him literally _just now_ if we could come over!”

“Well, let’s take like, a few minutes to drop our stuff off and maybe, ya know, take a bath.” Beau said. “I doubt he wants us coming over to his fancy-ass wizard towers carrying all our shit and smelling like we just spent a week in a volcano.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Fjord added.

Caduceus sniffed himself, looking bewildered. “I don’t know what you all are talking about, I smell the same.”

“I still smell like a Crayon,” Yasha remarked.

“Well, let’s all take a quick breather, and then we can go over after that, yes?” Caleb added.

“Yeah, I miss our fuckin’ hot tub.” Beau stretched her arms and laced her fingers behind her head as the group turned down the winding road, the welcome sight of the Xhorhaus greeting them at the other end with its perpetually lit tree like an old friend. TravelerCon had been _so_ awesome and Jester would like, totally get so many more people to follow him now, but it was still really nice to be back.

“Okay okay, I’m gonna send him another message.” She again cleared her throat and Fjord again held up his fingers to keep track of how many words she used. “Okay, we have to drop things off at the Xhorhaus but we’ll be there soon. I brought you a present!” She gasped, realizing she hadn’t yet had a chance to talk to him about the fucking _dragon turtle_ they’d fought on the way! “I HAVE TO TELL YOU—”

“That’s it, you’re out,” Fjord said, dropping his hands.

“Ah, shit.” Jester flicked her tail irritably. Why the fuck did this spell only give you twenty-five words? How were you supposed to communicate _anything_ with that?

“Do you want to send another, or—”

“No no, I’m sure it’s fine, he’s like, _so_ smart, I’m sure he understands and I don’t want to use all my spells,” Jester interrupted him. Sure enough, just a few moments later, she heard him reply. _“Very well, I look forward to seeing all of you once more. And thank you for the gift, whatever it is.”_

Jester grinned and clasped her hands together. “Aw, he said ‘thank you’ for my gift you guys, do you think he’s going to _love_ it?” She’d had a _super_ cool green Traveler cloak like everyone else had made for him, designed special so that he could wear it under that weird mantle he always wore.

“Yes, absolutely he will,” Veth said. “These cloaks are _amazing_.” She twirled the edges of the smaller one Jester had had made for her in preparation.

“Yeah, I know right!” The Mighty Nein entered the Xhorhaus then, the now familiar sight of their living room a welcome reprieve. Jester went up to her and Beau’s room and unceremoniously dumped her stuff on her bed. Beau was right behind her and followed suit, stretching and popping her back once more.

“You know,” Beau said, leaning on her staff and facing partially away from her, “we don’t… _have_ to go over to Essek’s today.”

Jester’s face dropped. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t we?”

“I mean… we still need to figure out what to do with him and all that. It might be a bad idea to go over there without discussing everything first.”

“Well when I sent him my first message he said he knew we had lots to discuss, so we can just do it there. Besides, I need to give him this.” She held up the cloak she’d had made with more than a small hint of pride.

Beau chewed her bottom lip. “Jes, I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

Jester groaned dramatically, threw her head back, and let her arms fall along with the cloak. “Yeah, I know he’s a traitor and all, Beau, but he’s still our friend and Caleb likes him and he’s super cool and we should be nice to him!”

“Jester, he’s a war criminal. Thousands of people are dead because of something he did.”

Jester swished her tail anxiously. She really liked Beau a lot and it made her sad when they disagreed. “Yes, well… he did something bad, but he wants to be nice now and I think we should help him, you know?”

Beau dropped her gaze and shook her head. “I’m not too sure he does. I just don’t think it’s that easy.”

“Why _not?”_ Jester protested.

Beau gestured in frustration. “It just _isn’t_. He did something _really bad_ , there’s got to be some kind of punishment for that, I think. It’s not as easy as ‘oh, okay, we like you so it’s fine that you did this’, or whatever.”

Jester was already folding up the cloak and putting it back in the Haversack, just wanting to disengage from the conversation. “Well, _I_ think we should help him, and I know Caleb does too, so we’re going to try.” She grabbed some spare clothes and started marching down to the hot tub with a huff, the taste of sadness bitter on her tongue. Still, she swallowed it as best she could as she joined the others for a bit.

Beau eventually ambled in after her, and they all took a few minutes to unwind from the past week and all it had entailed. They chattered idly, discussing the battle with the dragon turtle again and the fantastic displays at TravelerCon. After a short while, they all clambered out of the hot tub and got dressed. Jester might have been tempted to tease Caleb about getting dressed super fancy before going to see Essek, but her heart wasn’t in it right now. A sinking part of her was wondering if Beau was right, and what that would mean. She felt like everything she thought she knew might go all topsy-turvy under her feet if she was wrong.

Jester kept one ear open to the group talking as they approached Essek’s towers. She was so distracted she almost didn’t notice the gate was already unlocked when she went to open it. Still, the strangeness snapped her out of it, and she frowned. Was it usually open?

“Oh, that’s weird...”

“Hmm?” Veth said down and to her right.

“Okay… is it just me, or was this locked last time?” Jester pointed her thumb at the gate.

“I do recall that it was,” Caleb muttered. He stepped forward, his face mirroring Jester’s, and gently pushed the gate open. Jester looked closer for a moment and saw tiny scratch marks around the lock. Even weirder. They led the way through, the group staring at the central tower for a moment.

At first, Jester didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary, since his place was already pretty weird even to her. But then she noticed the spinny thing on the top of the middle tower was slowing down, coming to a complete stop a few seconds later. For some reason the windows were… darker? She couldn’t see through them, for whatever reason.

Fjord entered her field of view then. “Does everything look okay?”

“I’m not sure,” Jester said softly. She wasn’t sure why, but something about this situation was telling her to whisper. “Should I send him another message?”

“I’m sending Frumpkin in,” Caleb said, sounding just nervous enough to officially put Jester on edge. With a snap of his fingers, Frumpkin appeared. He looked at the tower and started swishing his tail, meowing uneasily. Caleb’s eyes went white and he grabbed Beau’s shoulder as Frumpkin made his way, reluctantly, inside.

Jester waited a few moments, bouncing anxiously. She battled herself between not wanting to use another spell versus not being able to stand not knowing what the fuck was going on. “Fuck it,” she said finally, “I’m sending him another message.” She cleared her throat and Fjord dutifully held up his fingers. “Hey Essek, we’re outside. Are you home? The gate was weirdly unlocked so Caleb sent Frumpkin in but he—” She had lost track, too nervous to properly keep count, and turned quickly to Fjord, who waved six fingers. “Hasn’t—seen—you—yet. Everything good?”

A split second later, she saw a blinding flash from the top windows of the tower, immediately followed by one of the loudest _BANG_ _S_ she’d ever heard as the windows shattered and the glass rained down. Smoke started pouring out and up into the sky, orange and yellow flames licking the remaining few shards of glass and sending an eerie glow over the yard. Jester screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped back. She frantically reached one hand out to shake Caleb out of Frumpkin, but he’d snapped back already and was rushing headlong for the front door, almost tripping over himself. Jester was right behind him, and she caught sight of Beau, Veth, and Yasha dashing ahead, Yasha already pulling the Magician’s Judge from its sheath. Together, they all dashed as fast as they could, closing the too-long gap between themselves and the front door.

“CALEB, WHAT’S HAPPENING?” Jester shrieked as they burst through the door into the open area of the tower’s first floor. The smoke was so thick she couldn’t see much more than ten feet in front of her, but she could see drops of blood leading back to a dark spray over one of the tables where a tray of—

“GET THE DIAMONDS READY, WHOEVER HAS THEM, PLEASE,” Caleb shouted back with equal panic as he raced up the stairs. For a moment, Jester thought her heart had frozen solid in her chest. No. No, no no no no no no no. She’d talked to Essek not even half an hour ago. She was supposed to teach him how to bake. How could this be happening?

Tearing up from the smoke and her own fear, Jester launched herself up the stairs with Fjord behind her, the Star Razor already in his hand. She was coughing and had to pull her cloak up over her mouth and nose, eyes still stinging.

They burst through the doors, an inferno greeting them on the other side. Jester could make out the shapes of now burning bookshelves lining the wall, various arcane symbols on the floor, multiple knocked-over candles, and a familiar drow figure crumpled near one of the windows, immobile in a slowly widening dark pool.

She heard a sound to her right—a curse in a Zemnian accent, but the voice most distinctly not Caleb’s—and saw a second figure shift through the smoke before turning Invisible. Jester’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. A _Scourger_? That could only mean… the Assembly…

Angrier than she could describe, she shot a Guiding Bolt in their direction, but it passed harmlessly through the smoke. Screeching in rage, she turned to Fjord and pointed. “They’re invisible, use the sword magic thingy!”

Fjord nodded and his ( _very_ pretty) eyes took on a greenish sheen as he peered through the dust and ash. Part of her noticed that Caduceus had been using Create Water to slowly put the flames encasing the room out from behind them as she turned back towards the rest of the group.

Beau and Yasha were both on guard, Beau wildly waving her staff through the still heavy smoke and dust in an attempt to _maybe_ strike the Scourger. Yasha stood at the ready with her teeth bared and eyes wide, shaking with rage, the Magician’s Judge poised to strike in case she saw them. Caleb had finally reached Essek, one hand still poised to Disintegrate the Scourger if they came into view, the other trying to douse the remaining flames that were eating the edges of Essek’s cloak.

Choking back a sob, Jester ran over and practically fell next to Essek, getting a good look at him for the first time. He’d fallen on his side with one arm extended out in front of him. The entire front of his cloak was completely drenched with blood. A thin line of it had run from the corner of his mouth and pooled under his cheek. His eyes were open and glassy, staring blankly at nothing.

“Jester,” she heard Caleb wheeze. He looked perhaps as stricken and angry as she’d ever seen. “We still have twenty-four seconds.”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” she heard herself say. Fingers shaking, she pulled out the diamonds and her Pearl of Power. Would this even work? She still felt like she barely understood consecution and all the Beacon craziness, but could they even get him back? Not daring to take that train of thought much further, Jester closed her eyes and muttered a few words, pulling at the Pearl’s magic and casting Revivify.

 _Please, Traveler, make the Luxon thingy give our friend back. Please_.

The smoke around her stirred and drifted away partly. Jester saw the trim of a familiar green cloak and wild, curling red hair at the edges of her vision, and felt a second pair of hands encircle hers.

“ _Well,_ ” the Traveler whispered, the familiar voice a source of much-needed comfort right now. _“I’m certainly powerful enough now to take on another god. And it’s all thanks to you. Let’s see if we can’t_ _bring him back,_ _shall we?_ _”_

The diamonds cupped in her hands turned to dust and slipped through her fingers, each mote leaving a little trail of green light behind it. The dust slowly spiraled down, the faint green glow illuminating their entire half of the room and mingling with the smoke that still lingered. Despite how fucking scared she was, she couldn’t help but find it sort of pretty. Jester closed her eyes, willing with all her might for this to work… and she felt the spell take.

Essek blinked and coughed, expelling the remaining blood from his lungs and throat. Jester practically melted with relief as she helped Caleb pull him up into a semi-sitting position.

“Oh my _gosh_ Essek, what the _fuck_ happened?” Jester pulled the bloody cloak and mantle off of him so she could heal him properly, then grabbed his shoulder and pumped the most potent Cure Wounds that she could manage into him.

“ _There_ you are,” Fjord said, and as she turned around, Jester saw him plunge Dwueth’Var into a part of the smoke that was swirling irregularly near the door of the room, the end of the green blade quickly turning dark with blood. Again, there was a curse in a Zemnian accent as two of Veth’s crossbow bolts found their mark and seemed to stick to the air, sending several drops of blood scattering. Caleb, jaw clenched, face twisted in fury and grief and fear, released his Disintegrate spell and Jester heard another cry of pain as it found its mark. Finally, with two quick _crack_ _s_ from Beau’s staff and a final few slices and twists from the Magician’s Judge, the Scourger blinked into view and they collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Yasha lowered the tip of her blade so it just hovered over their neck, looking up at the others. “Well, are we finishing them?”

“I can do a Speak with Dead,” Caduceus rumbled, his mouth set in a grim line as he doused the final few flames.

“Can’t they lie to you though?” Veth asked, crossbow still aimed at the Scourger’s head.

“We’ll have to take that risk,” Caleb said. He’d pulled Essek, still somewhat dazed, mostly into his lap and drawn as far away from the Scourger’s side of the circular room as possible. He nodded to Yasha, who then dropped the blade the final few inches into their throat and twisted it with a squishing _shink_ sound that send a final spray of red across the sigils on the floor.

For a heartbeat and a half they all just stood there, taking in the ruined scene around them. The room was completely destroyed, the bookshelves either burnt, drenched, or both. There were scorch marks on the ground and the walls, even reaching the ceiling. The smoke had still left a haze in the air, drifting out through the windows.

Yasha cleared her throat as she pulled her sword out. “Sorry, uh, about all the… blood.”

“It’s fine, considering...” Essek managed. Then he winced and pressed his hand against his chest, swaying slightly. “Ow.”

“What is it? What’s happening? What’s wrong?” Jester scrabbled back over, Yasha following quietly behind with one hand still on her sword, glancing out what remained of the windows.

“I, ah, believe the blade they used was— _ow._ ” Essek cut off, wincing again and gritting his teeth.

“Poisoned,” Caleb finished, eyes wide. He grabbed Essek’s free hand and laced it tightly with his own. “The, ah, _v_ _olstrucker_ sometimes use specially poisoned blades, when taking out high level targets.”

Jester looked back towards the dead Scourger, where Caduceus was preparing for the Speak with Dead spell, and shivered despite the lingering heat. How had everything fallen apart so quickly? “Caduceus, do you have Lesser Restoration or anything like that prepared for today?”

“I do, hold on.” Caduceus paused his set up and made his way over, kneeling next to Jester. With some soft words to the Wildmother and a quick flourish of his hands, Essek exhaled properly for the first time since coming back and the poison faded away. “There you go, you’re all right,” Caduceus said, giving him a pat on the back.

“Thank you,” Essek said weakly. His face was still pale lavender instead of the usual dark purple, and he was shaking a little. “Thank all of you, I… I am so sorry for putting you all in danger. Again,” he added softly.

Yasha cleared her throat from over by the opening that used to be a window. “Um, before this continues, it looks like the guards are coming.”

“Aw, shit!” Jester stood up and darted over. Sure enough, several of the Aurora Watch were racing to the tower from the distance, which was still sending the occasional plume of smoke high into the night skies of Rosohna. “Shit, shit, shit, what do we do?”

“I think our only option is to kill them all,” Veth said, readying her crossbow.

“I can get rid of them, at the very least,” Essek said quickly. “I could probably pass this whole thing off as an… unfortunate accident with some arcane activities.”

Beau frowned. “How likely do you think they are to buy that?”

Essek half shrugged. “I _am_ the Shadowhand. If nothing else, they shouldn’t publicly question it.”

“If you say so. By the way,” Beau added, “what does a ‘Shadowhand’ _do_ , exactly? Is it just, like, a bunch of shady spy shit?”

“Yeah, do you have, like, a bunch of super cool spy gear and a secret name and that sort of thing?” Jester asked eagerly. After everything that had just happened, all she wanted was for something to feel normal.

“Is ‘Essek Thelyss’ even your _real_ name?” Veth demanded, turning her crossbow his way.

“Okay, the man just _died_ , give him some space,” Fjord protested. “Believe me, that shit sucks.”

“Yeah, it’s really unpleasant,” Caduceus added, going back to preparing his incense.

“Here,” Caleb said, helping Essek to his feet.

“Thank you,” Essek said as he stood. “I—” Immediately, his face went even paler and his legs gave out. Caleb managed to catch him and hold them both upright as Jester reached over and quickly cast Cure Wounds on him again.

“Okay, well, _that’s_ not gonna work,” Beau said.

Jester leaned to look back out the window, which was really just a hole in the wall now. The Aurora Watch were now maybe a hundred feet from the tower, running at full speed.

“Guys, they’re almost here,” Jester said anxiously, pulling her hands over her face. If they saw the dead Scourger, the Bright Queen would definitely find out about it, and Jester couldn’t think of a good reason they could tell her why this would happen that didn’t expose what Essek had done with the Beacons, and she had _not_ gone to all the trouble of bringing him back from the dead just for her to execute him.

“Okay, hold on,” Fjord said. “ _I’ll_ go.” He muttered a bit and waved his hands, using Mask of Many Faces to turn himself into a perfect copy of Essek, floating gently.

Beau frowned again. “You think they’ll buy _that?_ You don’t even speak Undercommon. _”_

“Oh, fuck,” Fjord-as-Essek said.

Jester groaned in irritation, too worried to laugh or make any of the quips she was thinking of. “They’re almost here and it’s all we’ve got. Fjord, go!”

Fjord ran back down the stairs, and with a sound of frustration, Beau followed suit for backup just in case. Jester sent a silent prayer to the Traveler that everything would go okay on their end as she turned back to where Caduceus was preparing the spell.

“What questions are we going to ask?” Caduceus inquired.

“I’d like to know how they got into my tower, personally,” Essek said tersely. He was still leaning heavily on Caleb, who had guided them both over so they all formed a loose circle around the corpse.

“Maybe if there are more of them coming?” Veth offered.

“What specifically were your orders, and who of the Assembly gave them?” Caleb said grimly.

Caduceus nodded. “Well, that’s four. If they say something funny, that leaves us room for another.”

“Caduceus, do you need to disguise yourself or something like that?” Jester asked. She wasn’t the one using this spell usually because she found it a little freaky and rarely even prepared it, but she knew the Scourger could lie if they thought he was an enemy.

“I wasn’t really the one hitting them, so I’m hoping if you all just stay back, it should be good.” He lit the final stick of incense and started the spell. The dead Scourger let out a low breath as the false life entered it, blood bubbling at the wound in their throat. Their eyes drifted over to Caduceus, but didn’t show any specific reaction that Jester could discern. She saw Yasha grip her sword reflexively, and Caleb shift a bit so he was between the Scourger and Essek.

Caduceus smiled gently. “Hey there,” he rumbled. “You mind telling me how you got into this tower?”

“ _Watched for... a week or so… Found a weak point… Then struck...”_

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Jester whispered. They’d probably been watching Essek the entire time the Mighty Nein were at TravelerCon, maybe since he’d gotten back from the peace talks. If they hadn’t come back when they did, or if they’d sailed for even a few hours longer, they could have lost him forever and his home would be ashes. She looked around at the others as they all realized the same thing, and saw them all have similar face journeys.

“What were your exact orders?”

“ _Kill the Crick... make it look like... an accident,”_ they hissed slowly.

Caduceus furrowed his eyebrows. “Why bother making it look like an accident?”

“ _Less… suspicious… Fire leaves… no trace...”_

Jester chanced a glance over at Caleb, watching Veth do the same thing. His face was perfectly blank, but she could see his jaw was clenched. He pulled Essek a little closer and squeezed his hand, and Essek did the same.

“Alright,” Caduceus sighed uneasily. “Did the Assembly send you?”

“ _Yes… the one we… answer to...”_

Caduceus smiled slightly. “When he finds out you failed, will he send more of you?”

The Scourger’s mouth twisted into an eerie, sick grin. _“There are always… more...”_

With that, the spell ended, and the Scourger’s head fell back, empty of all spirit and definitely dead. Jester exhaled. “Holy _shit_ ,” she said. She covered her mouth with her hands. “Essek, they really _really_ want you dead.”

Essek blinked, and was silent for a moment. “Yes, apparently so,” he managed. “I’ve been even more foolish than I thought, it seems.”

“Let’s go downstairs for now,” Caleb said quietly. “Or to one of the other towers.”

“I think that’d be a good idea. I can deal with this.” Caduceus pointed to the dead Scourger.

“Yeah, let’s see what Beau and Fjord are doing. I’m sure it’s going perfectly,” Veth said.

“I don’t really want to be up here anymore,” Yasha added softly.

“Okay, let’s go.” Jester started down the stairs, feeling for the first time in the past several minutes like she could properly breathe, and thinking about how much more crazy things had gotten all of a sudden.


	3. Chapter Three

Caleb barely remembered some moments from the Scourger battle, and others would never leave his head. He remembered the fire and the smoke overtaking Essek’s tower, of course, the image another unwelcome addition to his unpleasant collection of such things. He didn’t remember screaming for Jester, but he’d noted the stinging pain in his throat that proved he must have done it. He didn't remember seeing any smoke through Frumpkin as he trotted through the rooms, and wished not for the first time that the cat was more perceptive. And he remembered watching the Lightning Bolt strike Essek and the light leaving his eyes as he collapsed to the ground through Frumpkin. He couldn’t stop playing that one over and over in his head.

Caleb carefully guided him down the tower’s stairs now, still not letting go of his hand. That irrational, panicked part of his brain that always came out during times like this was wasn’t going to allow that. It was too scared of losing him a second time.

“Are you okay?” Caleb asked. He knew the answer was no, but he needed to ask. “All things considered, I mean?”

He felt Essek sigh as they reached the base of the stairs. This close, Caleb could see just how drained he was. He knew from the Mighty Nein’s own few brushes with death how physically taxing it could be, to be thrown over that edge and then wrenched back over it.

“I am alive, which is… far better than I was expecting to turn out.” Essek’s voice was quiet, though out of residual fear or just tiredness, Caleb couldn’t quite discern. He had a feeling it was a bit of both.

Caleb led them both over to one of the couches. A quick look around the now smoke free area gave him a general impression of the events that had transpired. There were extra seating arrangements for the Nein set up at the dining table. A trail of blood led back from the spiral staircase to one of the kitchen islands, which was coated in a larger puddle. Caleb noted, distantly, that drow blood was a few shades darker than that of humans, and a bit bluer in hue. Looking further back, he could see that one of the windows was ever so slightly ajar, which must have been where the Scourger entered.

With that, Caleb heard the sound of a door closing. His head snapped up and he saw Beau and Fjord making their way back inside, Fjord dropping the disguise. “Everything go okay?”

Fjord nodded once and gave him a thumbs up. “Yep. It went perfectly. No one’s suspicious _at all_.”

“Could not have gone better,” Beau added. “You, uh, might get some… weird questions about your accent over the next couple of days, though,” she said to Essek.

“That is manageable, I believe.” Essek sighed and swayed a little again, the exhaustion catching up with him. “Thank you, both of you. It seems I owe you all a great debt.”

“Yeah. How the tables turn, right?” It was the closest Beau could get to lightheartedness right now, Caleb thought.

“Indeed,” Essek said softly. “I can’t say I did not expect something like this to happen, but… I had not believed it would happen like this.”

“It’s gonna happen again. The dead Scourger said there’d be more.” Jester’s tail swished and she looked around the open space of the tower’s first floor. Caleb couldn’t help but follow her gaze around the room, and wasn’t sure if he was more relieved or unsettled that he saw nothing.

“It seems they’ve realized you’re a loose end.” Beau sat on the arm of the couch next to Essek, sounding uncharacteristically sympathetic and even _worried_. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re not going to stop until you’re dead, or they’re dead.”

Essek chewed his bottom lip, slightly elongated canines digging into his skin almost enough to puncture it, and sighed deeply. “If that is the case, then you all need to leave. Immediately.”

“What?” Jester hissed.

“Yes, what?” Fjord demanded.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Yasha added from the corner of the room, crossing her arms.

“Dude, you were just _murdered_ in your own house, we know for a fact that there are more murderers coming, and you expect us to leave?” Beau crossed her legs and laid her staff across her knees with an air of finality. “We’re staying right here. You’re not getting rid of us or out of this that easily.”

“I will not—I _cannot_ put you all in danger _again_ because of what I’ve done,” Essek began, but Caleb quickly cut him off.

“We’re not really giving you a choice in the matter here, Essek,” he said, squeezing his hand again and resisting the urge to hold it over his heart, needing that proof that he was still alive. “You are still our friend, everything else aside, and _we_ do not want to lose you _again_.”

Essek sighed again, clearly a mixture of frustrated, conflicted, and guilty that Caleb knew all too well. With his free hand, he snapped his fingers and a slightly singed and slightly more pissed off Frumpkin appeared in Essek’s lap, purring at Caleb’s command all the same. Essek seemed to relent and leaned back into the couch, resigning himself to petting Frumpkin for the time, and Caleb turned back to Beauregard, pointing at her.

“You,” he began, “you said something.”

Beau blinked. “Uh, I said a lot of things. What, specifically?”

“You said, ‘they’re not going to stop until you’re dead—” he turned back and pointed to Essek— “or they’re dead’, the ‘they’ being the Cerberus Assembly, correct?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Beau frowned slightly, and Caleb could tell she was already catching onto what he was thinking.

“Well, I think the answer is pretty clear to us then. We’ve already been saying it for months now, but it seems to have come to the, ah, forefront of our concerns, given recent developments.”

“Do you...” Jester’s eyes widened. “Do you want to take on the Assembly?”

Caleb nodded once. “That is exactly what I think we should do, yes.”

“Are… are you _sure_?” Veth asked. She’d sat on the coffee table in front of the couch. “That seems _really_ dangerous and sounds like something where we could all die horribly.”

“Wait, what’s really dangerous?” Caduceus had made his way downstairs now, having somehow _d_ _is_ _posed_ of the dead _volstrucker_ in ways Caleb would rather leave unknown.

“Caleb thinks we should take down the Assembly,” Fjord said. He shrugged. “I mean, they seem like they’ve been the ones perpetuating a lot of the shit that’s been happening. I’m down if you all are.”

“Dairon’s also been working on that theory. It can’t hurt to catch up with them and see if they have any input,” Beau offered. “I agree, those fucks have to go, one way or another.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Veth protested. “This seems like the kind of thing we really need a plan for.”

“Well, of course,” Caleb said, “This isn’t the kind of thing we can just, ah, fuck around with, so to speak. But they’re the ones that are corrupting the Empire, and I fear that corruption will only spread, if it has not already.”

Caleb would have been lying if he had said that no deeply buried part of him still wanted to choke the life out of Ikithon, to return the favor that had been paid now twice over. And it would have been a bigger lie to say he was not still deeply afraid of trying to carry that act out.

“Essek,” Jester asked from the spot she’d claimed on the floor, her tail now curled in her lap, “do you know anything about any specific members of the Assembly that can help us? Like, does one of them have a super dirty secret or hidden weakness or anything like that?”

Essek laughed once, softly, the barest smile ghosting his lips. “Unfortunately, my interactions with them have been… minimal since I handed over the Beacons. Somewhat frustratingly so, I will admit.” He shifted forward a bit with a slight grimace, and Caleb’s chest clenched again in grief and anger as he continued. “When the Martinet first reached out all those years ago, it seemed at the time like a dream come true. But after that, I only communicated with them maybe once every few months. Or, rather, that was as often as they reciprocated my attempts at communication. There is… well, before today I had thought or at least _hoped_ that we shared a mutual respect, but I never got to know any of them very well personally.”

“They weren’t very friendly, were they?” Jester asked.

Essek shook his head. “No. Cordial, yes, over what was in hindsight a thinly veiled layer of contempt and annoyance. But… you all are the first people who have ever been especially friendly to me.”

Jester nodded, then gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “OH MY _GOSH_ , that reminds me.” Grinning for the first time since this had all happened, she pulled her haversack into her lap and started digging through it. A moment later, she produced a long, dark green cloak.

“I got you a present from TravelerCon! I know your cool mantle thingy is kinda burnt and blood covered and ruined, but it could still work as a blanket, I think.” She jumped up and, doing her best not to agitate Frumpkin, pulled the cloak over Essek’s lap, who seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden maelstrom of affection that was Jester Lavorre. She pulled the flared edges of it over Caleb, who only pretended to miss the subtle wink she gave him.

“Thank you, Jester. I _had_ managed to find a decent bakery in Rosohna, but, well...” Essek gestured vaguely and quickly to the still blood covered kitchen, not quite looking in its direction. Caleb had a feeling it would be a while before he actually used that part of his tower again.

“Well, now you can just take me there tomorrow!” Jester said in an attempt to cheer him up a little. “And we can pick out flavors together.”

“Here, why don’t we go take care of all that,” Caduceus offered, inclining his head towards the kitchen, likely noticing Essek’s discomfort as well.

“I’ll join you,” Fjord said. Both made their way over to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

“No, please, I couldn’t ask you to—”

“Dude, we’re friends,” Beauregard interrupted. “Just let us help you, and stop being weird.”

Essek continued petting Frumpkin for a moment, not quite meeting her gaze, but eventually nodded. “All right. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. See was that so hard?”

“I suppose not,” he said dryly.

“Now, I’m gonna go make sure your fucking gate and windows are secure so you don’t get killed again, okay? And maybe see if I can find Dairon while I’m at it.”

“Ooh, I can help! I can send her a message!” Jester raised her hand up in the air.

“And Jester’s gonna help me.” Beau crossed her arms. “Because she’s cool like that. Got it?”

Essek laughed a bit again, and nodded once more. “Got it.”

“Good.” Beau paused, seeming to debate with herself, then exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. “Will you help us? Take down the Assembly, I mean?”

Essek was quiet for a moment, staring off into space while petting Frumpkin. Caleb studied him, dying to know what thoughts were racing behind those silver eyes. _Please s_ _ay yes_ , he thought. _Say yes, so you can come with us and we can protect you. Say yes, so I don’t have to be away from you. Say yes, and start towards making this world better_ _than it was before_ _._

Essek finally spoke. “After today? Certainly. It seems I owe them a debt now, too.”

Beau inclined her head. “Good. Jester?”

“I’m coming!” Both of them stood up and walked—well, Beau walked and Jester skipped—towards the back exit, hand in hand. “We’ll be back soon, probably, maybe, hopefully!”

Caleb looked to Veth then, their eyes meeting for a split second before she turned to Yasha, understanding him as always. “I’ll guard the front, you guard the back?”

“That works for me,” Yasha said. They drifted off to their respective posts. Caleb saw that Fjord and Caduceus had more or less finished cleaning up the kitchen and were making their way back upstairs to see if anything could be salvaged. From Caleb’s experiences with fire, especially the magical kind, it was unlikely. The thought of the tower being reduced to a pile of charred rubble, which it very well could have been had they not been here, broke his heart. _Fire leaves no trace._

With a deep breath, he turned to Essek, shifting so they were seated facing each other. Caleb lifted Frumpkin and placed him down on the ground, giving him a quick scratch behind the ears. “Do you have your spellbook?”

Essek blinked, a bit confused, but did the familiar finger motion with the hand Caleb wasn’t holding and the tome appeared with a flash.

“Okay, good.” It pained him more than a little, but he made himself finally let go of Essek’s hand and pull his own book out as well as some of the paper and ink he’d picked up recently. “It’s my turn to show _you_ a few things, if that’s all right with you.”

“Caleb, I—”

“Please,” he interrupted. All the panic and anger and grief he’d been holding back just barely was rising up around his ears, and he was worried he might drown in it. “Please, I need to do this, as much for me as for you.”

“Why?” Essek asked. It wasn’t accusatory or patronizing, as Caleb had feared it might be. It was gentle, and full of genuine concern.

“Because _you said you could protect yourself!”_ He set his materials down in his lap and cupped Essek’s face in his hands, as he had on their ship barely three weeks ago. “You said you could protect yourself, and then I watched you die. And I—I cannot go through that again, and we are about to go head to head with some of the most dangerous people in the world, so I _need_ you to let me show you how to keep yourself safe. _Please_.”

Essek wouldn’t, couldn’t, look at him. He kept his eyes downward, staring at the books and the paper and the ink, at his own hands, at the cloak that was draped over them both. Then slowly, carefully, he lifted his gaze and nodded once. “Okay,” he whispered.

Caleb sighed in relief, softening, and ran his thumbs over Essek’s cheekbones with a smile, his heart bouncing just a little when Essek returned the expression. “Thank you,” he breathed. Then, because the reality that any of them could be dead tomorrow was still too close for comfort, Caleb leaned in and gently pressed their lips together, just for a moment.

At least, he’d only planned for it to be a moment, a brief lapse in judgment where he allowed himself to be selfish and have something he did not deserve, maybe if only so he’d have another reason to hate himself later. But Essek had leaned and tentatively slid one of his hands through Caleb’s hair, and Caleb wrapped one of his arms around Essek to pull him closer, and he just couldn’t bear to pull away yet and have this brief, fleeting moment live forever in his mind as a reminder of something he could never, would never let himself have.

After what was both too long and not long enough, Caleb pulled away just enough to press their foreheads together, the enormity of what he’d just done and how, possibly, probably, everything was going to change now settling into him. But it didn’t scare him or fill him with dread or make him want to run and hide. This change brought hope, and freedom, and a chance for something better for the both of them. Maybe they could make themselves, and each other, better in the process.

“Now,” Caleb said, pressing one more quick kiss to Essek’s cheek, “let me show you some things.”

He felt more than he saw Essek’s smile. “That’s certainly agreeable.”

Caleb really pulled away this time, and gathered up the somewhat discarded spellbooks and paper. He handed Essek his and opened his own, flipping through to the right page. “This,” he pointed, shifting so he and Essek were right next to each other, “is the spell I used today against the Scourger. It’s called Disintegrate, are you familiar?”

Essek nodded, eyes already drinking in the runes and glyphs and the connections they made with each other. “I have seen it before, but I have never taken the time to learn it myself.”

“Well, it is only one sixteen in the afternoon, so we have plenty of time now.”

They spent most of the day there, Caleb carefully teaching him. They managed to get all of the way through a few lower level spells that he had in mind, and got decently through some of the more difficult ones. Essek was a fast learner, Caleb knew, but it still made him smile to see it in action. And although he knew it wasn’t strictly necessary, Essek didn’t object when Caleb took the extra time to carefully guide his hands through the somatic components of each spell.

The rest of the Nein drifted in and out. Beauregard was happy to report that Dairon had provided some useful information for their latest, craziest-to-date adventure. Caduceus made tea for everyone and passed it around, a welcome comfort after everything that had transpired. Eventually, though it was perpetually night in Rosohna, Caleb felt the hours stretch long as they reached what would have been sunset.

He carefully closed his spellbook. By now, the rest of the Mighty Nein had returned and had slowly overtaken the tower with their presence. “I think perhaps we should all rest here,” he said, “like old times.”

The others nodded their agreement, and Caleb removed a small bead from his component pouch and took the time to cast Leomund’s Tiny Hut in the middle of the living room. As the hut blinked into existence, he snapped his fingers and Frumpkin appeared again on top of it.

“Keep watch,” he said. “You know what to look for.”

Frumpkin mewled in response and began licking his paw to clear away the remaining grime from the earlier battle, but seemed vigilant enough.

With that, the Nein prepared themselves for sleep. Jester settled against Beau on one of the other couches, and Caduceus sprawled across in one of two expensive looking armchairs, Fjord curled in the other not unlike a cat. Yasha pulled out the Magician’s Judge and slept with it in her hands, and Veth had readied a few explosive crossbow bolts just in case.

But sleep did not find Caleb so easily. He was next to Essek, one arm wrapped under and around his chest to rest his hand over his heart, his other hand entwining their fingers once more. Every time Essek’s breath caught in his chest or he seemed a little too still, Caleb had to fight the urge to yell out for Jester or Caduceus with all he had. Each creak of the wood or gust of wind from outside put his teeth on edge—was it another Scourger? Could he really prove that it wasn’t? Would they—would _he_ send more than one at once this time? Could they handle three of them? Five? Ten or twenty?

Eighteen minutes after two in the morning, Essek’s light snoring stopped. Caleb tensed, biting his tongue again, but then Essek slowly rolled over, blinking awake and looking up at him.

“You aren’t asleep yet?” He murmured.

Caleb shook his head. “No,” he whispered hoarsely. He recalled that drow, like all elves, didn’t really need to rest for as long as humans did, and didn’t sleep in the traditional sense. Essek had probably only slept at all because of the physical exhaustion from dying and being brought back.

Still half asleep, Essek scooted a bit closer to him, which was impressive given how narrow the couch was. He nestled his face against Caleb’s neck and draped one arm over him, pulling the cloak and blankets back over his shoulder. “I’m here,” he breathed, eyes closing once more. “And if you all will have me, I won’t go anywhere anytime soon.”

Caleb blinked back a few tears, resting his cheek against Essek’s forehead and running his free hand through his hair a few times before settling against the small of Essek’s back. “That’s certainly agreeable,” he echoed with a smile.

Caleb drifted off to sleep six minutes later, his thoughts for once of his future and all it could hold rather than his past and the demons there.


End file.
